Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, along with a coalition of 22 states and several industry groups, has initiated legal action against New York over its Climate Change Superfund Act.
“New York’s law is nothing more than an unconstitutional shakedown of vital American energy industries that form the bedrock of our national economic independence,” said Paxton.
The lawsuit challenges the constitutionality of the act, which seeks to impose significant financial burdens on energy producers for past greenhouse gas emissions.
New York’s Climate Change Superfund Act, signed into law in December 2024, aims to collect approximately $75 billion over the next 25 years from oil and gas companies to fund “climate change adaptation” and infrastructure projects within the state. It retroactively holds energy producers accountable for emissions dating back to 2000, regardless of whether the companies operate within New York.
“In return for keeping the lights on and fueling our manufacturing, energy producers are being targeted for destruction by the left-wing policies of New York radicals,” said Paxton. “The negative impact of this unconstitutional law will extend far beyond New York, and I am proud to stand with [m]y fellow Attorneys General to stop this from happening.”
The lawsuit, spearheaded by West Virginia Attorney General John B. McCuskey, asserts that the act violates multiple provisions of the U.S. Constitution and federal law.
Key arguments presented in the filing include:
- Violation of the Commerce Clause: The plaintiffs argue that the act unduly burdens interstate commerce by targeting out-of-state energy producers and disrupting the national energy market. The complaint states the act “discriminates against the important economic interests of other States by specifically targeting energy producers headquartered in other States with clearly excessive penalties.”
- Due Process violations: The attorneys general argue that the act’s retroactive penalties and lack of clear procedural safeguards violate the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The complaint notes the act imposes “a harsh retroactive penalty against a select few energy producers who lawfully extracted and refined fossil fuels” and does so “in an unfair and flawed” manner “with insufficient procedural safeguards.”
- Unconstitutional taking: The lawsuit asserts the act’s financial demands constitute an unconstitutional taking of private property without just compensation, violating the Fifth Amendment. The complaint contends the act’s “retroactive penalties impose substantial economic impact on covered energy producers and significantly interfere with those producers’ investment-backed expectations.”
In addition to West Virginia and Texas, the states joining the lawsuit include Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, and Wyoming.
Several industry groups, including the West Virginia Coal Association, the Gas and Oil Association of West Virginia, America’s Coal Associations, and Alpha Metallurgical Resources, Inc., have also joined the lawsuit as plaintiffs.
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